UN report warns food prices to rise by 40% over next decade

Paris
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A new report released by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) suggests that global food prices could rise by 40 percent over the next ten years.

According to a report by the UN and OECD, growing demand from emerging markets and biofuel production will drive up the cost of farm commodity prices and add to the price of food on a worldwide scale. The report, part of a global agricultural markets outlook, explains that food prices could rise by 40 percent and is “unlikely to drop back to their average levels of the past decade.”

The joint annual report specifically states that the average price of wheat and coarse grain over the next ten years will increase between 15 and 40 percent, vegetable oil prices could rise much more than 40 percent and the price projection for dairy prices will be between 16 and 45 percent higher.

“The Outlook sees global agriculture output growing more slowly over the next decade than in the past 10 years but nevertheless remains on track with previous estimates to meet the 70 percent increase in world food production required to meet the market demand of estimated population levels in 2050,” notes the report.

Several nations are expected to increase their agricultural production, including Brazil, with its output to rise by more than 40 percent, China, India, Russia and the Ukraine. All those nations are going to see production output grow by more than 20 percent.

The report further notes that the economic collapse and price spikes have contributed to hunger for millions around the world and “food insecurity,” which will force nations across the globe to increase their agricultural productivity.

“The role of developing countries in international markets is growing quickly, and as their impact grows, their policies also have an increasing bearing on conditions in global markets,” said Jacques Diouf, FAO Director-General. “This makes their role and contribution to global policy issues critical. Policy discussions must be global in scope and we need to improve the framework for such exchange of views.”